Oil explorations in coastal areas may be linked with Sagarmala project

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Union petroleum ministry is planning a special package to promote oil exploration & production (E&P) in coastal areas and link it to the ‘Sagarmala’ project for development of coastal parts of India.“It is a major project that will help not only develop the coastal areas but also produce employment. The draft is under preparation and will be soon circulated for inputs,” said a senior official in the petroleum ministry.

The Sagarmala programme aims at leveraging the long coastline and natural maritime advantages. It also focuses on promoting port-led development, energising the coastal economy and infrastructure development in these areas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to modernise the ports and integrate them with special economic zones, port-based smart cities, industrial parks, warehouses, logistics parks and transport corridors along the vast coastline of 7,500 km.

Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of petroleum and natural gas, is likely to discuss the proposed project next week in Mumbai with E&P companies, oil & gas service providers, financial institutions and private equity firms to take a holistic view of financial and allied community on the sector.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc plan to invest about $1.5 billion to bring to production six satellite gas discoveries in the flagging KG-D6 block by 2022.

The companies had on Monday submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) a field development plan for what is known as satellite and other satellite fields, said a senior petroleum ministry official.

Source: Indian Express